Retired General Target of Inquiry Over Iran Leak

Posted on Jun 28, 2013

Retired Gen. James E. Cartwright, the former second-ranking officer in the U.S. military and influential adviser to President Obama on security matters, is the focus of an investigation into a leak of classified information about American cyberattacks on Iran’s nuclear program.

Since retiring in 2011, Cartwright has joined the Center for Strategic and International Studies, speaking in favor of reductions in the nuclear arsenal and warning of possible “blowback” from the use of drones by the United States in Pakistan and Yemen.

The investigation into the general complicates the public’s view of the practice of condoned leaks by officials within the administration. We know the White House selectively releases classified information for strategic advantages it will receive in the press and public opinion, and we’ve also heard Obama condemn leaks time and again. Exactly what is going on in the case of Cartwright is not clear at this time.

The leak investigation, being carried out by the United States attorney for Maryland, Rod J. Rosenstein, was announced by Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. after articles in The New York Times described an ambitious series of cyberattacks under the code name Olympic Games that were intended to slow Iran’s progress toward a nuclear bomb. That General Cartwright is a focus of the leak inquiry was first reported by NBC News.